


You and Me, Baby

by justyrae



Series: cat nouis [6]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animals, Curtain Fic, Fluff, Gen, Human!Harry, Human!Liam, M/M, cat!Zayn, cat!louis, cat!niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:54:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24068455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/pseuds/justyrae
Summary: Another day, another big change for Louis to be upset about.
Relationships: Liam Payne/Harry Styles, Niall Horan/Zayn Malik/Louis Tomlinson
Series: cat nouis [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/979320
Comments: 15
Kudos: 35
Collections: 1D Animal Fest





	You and Me, Baby

**Author's Note:**

> remember when i said the last part was the last part? well, this time i mean it. for real!
> 
> anyway, pls enjoy another few thousand words of cats being cats and lirry being lirry. pls don't use this for advice on how to introduce cats to babies, because i have neither and i am certainly not the person to be giving advice.

Every day is a lazy day when you're a cat. It's the rules, and Louis is very adamant about following said rules. Zayn is fairly keen on this rule as well and spends even more time sleeping than Louis does. Niall has his lazy moments but overall he's very active for a cat.

Sometimes Louis wonders if Niall's really a dog in a cat's body.

Louis has gotten especially lazy since Harry introduced a new plant to the small garden in the backyard. He's not quite sure what it is (not that any of the cats really know what any of the plants are) but to him, it's the best thing ever. At the very least, Louis finds it especially tasty and Harry doesn't seem to mind quite as much when Louis eats it in favor over the other plants in the garden.

Even Zayn has started to venture out of the house more often now, if only to laze about in the garden. Harry is constantly finding the two of them asleep in the dirt. He hates to rouse them when he does, but it's preferable to be woken up by Harry's gentle touch rather than the shock of cold water from the garden hose as it soaks the dirt underneath them.

Louis has planned on today being an especially lazy day whether anyone else likes it or not. The air outside is perfectly warm and Louis' favorite spot in the garden has just the right amount of shade so that he doesn't overheat during his naps. He and Zayn went outside first thing after their post-breakfast nap on the couch, and they've been snoozing ever since.

Niall comes and goes as he pleases, poking his nose around at the two of them but not entirely disturbing them. Louis doesn't mind it at all, until Niall decides he's had enough nosing and plops down right on top of Louis like he always does.

The problem with this, however, is that Niall is not as small as he used to be. In fact, he's larger than Louis now (though Louis refuses to admit it) and that means that when he plops, Louis gets a bit squished.

_Niall_ , Louis meows uncomfortably, _what're you doing?_

_Joining your nap._ Niall gently licks Louis' head. _You don't mind, do you?_

_No._ Louis tries to shift enough to dislodge Niall from his spot directly on top of him, but without losing the warmth of his current spot. It doesn't entirely work but he does manage to shift around enough that Niall isn't squishing him too badly anymore.

_Felt like a cuddle_. Niall nuzzles his face into Louis' fur, and Louis returns the affection with a gentle lick to the top of Niall's head.

_Cuddles are always welcome._ Louis turns his head all around until he spots Zayn a little ways away. He's clearly pretending to be asleep; Louis knows all of his tells by now and the biggest one is the way his ears constantly twitch while he's sleeping soundly.

His ears aren't moving, not even a little.

_Zayn, c'mere._

Zayn opens one eye and huffs. _I'm comfy right here._

_But there's cuddles over here._

Zayn looks at Niall and huffs again. Louis closes his eyes and settles in, knowing full well that Zayn won't be immune to Niall's invitation for long.

Sure enough, within a few minutes Louis feels Zayn's tail slap against his face and he opens his eyes to see Zayn curling up on Niall's other side, burrowing in to make himself extra comfortable.

_Shut up_.

_I didn't even say anything_. Louis huffs and nuzzles his face against Niall, and all three cats take a well-deserved nap together.

*

According to Louis, not enough time passes between when he fell asleep to when he's rudely awakened by loud voices in the garden. Niall's ears are already perked up and he's shifted enough to disturb both Louis and Zayn, though Zayn appears to be adamant to not let it get in the way of continuing his nap.

Niall slinks out from under the plant cover, and after a few seconds of stretching, Louis follows.

He joins Niall on the edge of the garden, the two of them watching curiously as Liam and Harry struggle to carry a large box over the path and towards the back door.

_What're they doing?_ Niall tilts his head and jerks a little when Liam yelps.

"Watch it!"

"Sorry! I don't have a good--"

"I told you I could do it myself, Harry--"

"But you shouldn't, I'm here and I can help!"

_Dumb human stuff_. Louis starts cleaning his paw, watching their dumb humans out of the corner of his eye. It's an amusing sight as they carry the large box up the small set of stairs to the back door, continuing to argue about who should be doing the carrying.

Liam and Harry eventually disappear inside, the screen door slamming shut behind them. Niall turns back to Louis and gently headbutts him.

_Do you think there's something for us in that box?_

_Maybe_ , Louis bats Niall away with a flick of his paw.

Before Niall can ask any further questions, Liam reappears at the screen door.

"No, you stay inside," he tells Harry as he jogs down the steps. Harry comes to a stop at the door, holding it open and looking very huffy about the whole situation.

"Are you going to let me do anything ever again?" He calls after Liam. "It's been three years!"

"Stay there, I'll be right back!" Liam shouts as he makes his way back to the car.

_C'mon,_ Louis meows as he starts trodding off towards the door. _Let's investigate_.

"Oh, hello." Harry smiles when he sees Louis and Niall padding towards him, meowing as they go. "Had enough of the garden, then?"

_Want to see the box!_ Niall meows as he runs through Harry's legs, whipping his tail against Harry's ankles as he passes.

"Where's Zayn?" Harry wonders aloud, peering around the door curiously only to spot him in the garden, still sound asleep.

Meanwhile, Louis and Niall find the box in the next room and proceed to rub their furry little bodies all over it. Niall starts gnawing at one of the corners where the tape is coming unstuck, and Louis uses the side as a decent enough scratching post. It is very clearly their box now, despite whatever Harry and Liam may say.

Harry is very clearly not on board with this idea, which proves surprising to Louis. At the very least he expected Harry to let them get away with this while Liam's out of the house.

"Stop that," Harry chides, scooping both of them up with a small amount of difficulty. Niall meows unhappily and Louis glares at Harry, feeling supremely annoyed about not being able to scratch at the box anymore. "That's not a kitty toy."

_Says you_. Louis puts his paw on Harry's nose. _Everything in this house is a kitty toy._

"Harry!" Liam calls. "Could you get the door?"

Louis and Niall aren't put down when Harry goes to open the screen door for Liam, and he's understandably confused when he sees the two cats in Harry's arms.

"What's… going on?" Liam says as he brings another large box and several shopping bags into the house.

"These two were being naughty," Harry says as he presses his face against Louis and Niall's heads in turn, "so I had to pick them up."

"Ah," Liam says as he notices the scratch marks on the other box. "I see."

"They're very curious."

"I can tell," Liam says as he arranges the other box and shopping bags next to the first. "If they're this curious about the boxes, how are we going to keep them away from what's _inside_ the boxes?"

_What's inside?_ Louis meows, trying to get out of Harry's grip and back down to the floor. There's new stuff to investigate!

"We're not going to keep them away forever," Harry says, eventually putting Louis down. He keeps Niall, adjusting his grip so he's holding him a bit more like he would a baby. "Just for a little while."

Louis glances up at Niall, expecting him to squirm around and demand to be put down like Louis did, but instead Niall seems perfectly content to be held. Traitor.

"It's going to be longer than a little while," Liam continues. "We don't know how they'll-- Louis!"

In the ten seconds where neither Harry nor Liam were paying attention to him, Louis managed to pounce on one of the shopping bags and burrow his way inside. Liam pulls him right out, holding him tightly against his chest much to Louis' dismay.

_What was in that one?_

_Blankets. Fuzzy ones._ Louis glares hard at Liam, very frustrated by the fact that Liam's holding him in such a way as to prevent Louis from taking revenge by swiping at his cheek.

_Like the couch ones??_

_Sort of. They looked smaller._

"See?" Liam says, gesturing to the bags. "There's no way Louis and the others will leave the baby alone."

Both Louis and Niall's ears perk up.

_Baby?_

"It'll be fine, Liam! I've read up on introducing pets to babies, and everyone says--"

"Nobody else has a Louis," Liam interrupts sharply, holding Louis aloft like some odd sort of prize he's very upset about having won.

_Damn right they don't._

"Louis will love the baby," Harry says, stepping closer to Liam and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You'll see."

Liam sighs heavily, turning Louis around in his hands so they're face to face (but not _too_ close - Liam's learned that the hard way more than once over the years).

"Best behavior, you hear me?"

_Put me down_ , Louis yowls.

"See? He says yes." Harry grins widely.

_I did no such thing_.

"If you say so," Liam replies with a sigh. "For now, let's get them both outside so they don't try and destroy the crib before we have a chance to put it together."

*

It's not as though the cats can just forget about the aforementioned baby. Life inside the house does not go back to normal once the boxes show up. Anne and Gemma are constantly popping over and spending all day inside the room that the cats aren't allowed to go into, which is absolutely _terrible_ according to Louis.

Zayn has been spending the same amount of time outside as he usually does and therefore really doesn't see any difference in the way things are around the house. Niall tries following Anne and Gemma around for a bit, but loses interest when they don't give him attention.

Louis, on the other hand, is furious about everything. He doesn't even know this _baby_ yet and it's already ruining his life.

_You thought that about Niall and me too._ Zayn opens one eye and stares at Louis as he angrily digs around in the dirt nearby.

_You hated me back, doesn't count,_ Louis hisses as he paws a large clod of dirt in Zayn's direction. Zayn huffs a little, closing his eyes and turning away from Louis' temper tantrum.

_What about me?_ Niall rubs up against Louis and meows pitifully. _I wasn't so bad, right?_

_Of course not_. Louis licks Niall's head. _I was young and dumb._

Zayn huffs again and gets another pile of dirt thrown at him for the trouble.

_Humans are different_ , Louis goes on. _Liam was terrible when he first arrived, you don't even know._

_You still think Liam is terrible._

_Aren't you napping? Mind your business._

_Liam's not terrible,_ Niall meows softly. _He gives us treats and pets._

_Liam's not_ always _terrible,_ Louis concedes. _But what if this new baby human doesn't like us? What'll happen then?_

_Will we have to go?_ Niall's eyes go wide and he starts trembling. _I don't want to go. I like it here._

Louis rubs his head firmly against Niall's. _Harry wouldn't let that happen. He loves us._

Truth be told, Louis isn't sure. He's gotten away with a lot of things over the years when it comes to Liam, but something tells him that it won't be so easy with this new baby. Louis doesn't know what to expect. Why does everything have to keep changing all the time?

*

The day the baby arrives starts out like a normal day for about ten minutes. Usually when Harry and Liam wake up they spend at least half an hour in bed with the kitties, giving them kisses and pets and cuddles like they so rightly deserve.

Louis is just getting himself comfortable in the crook of Harry's arm when Harry does the unthinkable. He _moves_.

"Sorry, Lou," he says as he pecks the top of Louis' head with a kiss. "Can't laze about today."

_What._

Louis looks back and forth between Harry and Liam, who's following suit and getting out of bed as well. Niall meows in confusion and paces back and forth between the empty spots they leave behind while Zayn burrows under the covers like he usually does.

At least _someone_ is sticking to the status quo.

_Come back here._ Louis huffs. _We're not done._

"Today's the day," Liam says excitedly as he and Harry start getting dressed. "Can you believe it?"

"Hope you slept well," Harry teases, "it's the last full night we'll have for a while."

"Worth it, though." Liam pauses after pulling a shirt on over his head and Harry kisses him.

"Absolutely."

_Excuse me_ , Louis meows loudly as he reaches the foot of the bed. _You're supposed to be petting me._

_And me!_

_You're supposed to be petting us_ , Louis meows again as he tries to swipe at Harry and Liam without falling off the bed.

"Oh, kitties." Harry comes over and cups Louis' head and kisses him, and then does the same to Niall. "I know, I know, but we have to hurry."

_No hurry. What's this hurry?_

"I'll meet you downstairs," Liam says, smiling as he leaves the bedroom.

"Zayn?" Harry says, "come out, Zayn, I wanna give you kisses too."

Zayn remains a lump under the covers, so Harry squeezes between Louis and Niall and presses a kiss to what he hopes is the top of Zayn's head. Louis tries to climb onto Harry's back while he does this, hoping that maybe he can convince Harry to get back into bed and forget whatever it is that's making him leave right now.

"No, Lou--" Harry laughs, "stop that, I have to go!"

_No you don't, you have to stay._

Harry presses his forehead right up against Louis' head and scritches the fur under Louis' chin, holding him in place for a little while.

"We'll be back soon, I promise."

He kisses Louis' head again and gives Niall one more rub behind the ears before he darts out of the room, leaving both cats a little bewildered. They're a bit slower on the uptake than normal, and by the time they make it downstairs Harry and Liam have already left.

Niall lies down in front of the door, stretching out so far that he's nearly as long as the door is wide. Louis sits behind him, glaring at the door as though that'll make Harry and Liam come back this instant.

_Stupid humans._

*

All three cats are snoozing in the living room when Liam and Harry come back. Zayn's on his usual perch that's closest to the ceiling with his front paws dangling over the edge and his tail twitching and curling around the corner of the platform while he sleeps. Niall's sprawled out on the couch in a nest of fuzzy blankets, each one absolutely covered in his orange fur. And last but not least, Louis is curled up in his favorite chair (which also happens to be Liam's favorite chair) and every so often he stretches and puts a few new holes in the armrest.

But as soon as the door opens, there's a shrill cry that wakes up all three cats instantly and puts them all on edge.

_What's that?_ Niall peers out from his blanket nest and looks over at Louis.

_I dunno but I don't like it. Zayn?_

_Harry's carrying a bundle._ Zayn stretches and sits up, staring down from his vantage point to get a clear view of the two humans and whatever they've brought into the house with them.

_Baby!_ Niall leaps off the couch and trots over to Harry and Liam. He starts rubbing up against Liam's legs in an attempt to get attention, but it mostly fails.

"Hi Niall," Liam says absentmindedly as he sets down a bunch of different bags all while staying close to Harry and staring down at the bundle in his arms.

"She's still so fussy," Harry says a little sadly as he gently bounces the bundle. "I thought we'd gotten a handle on it during the drive home."

"Maybe she's hungry?" Liam says as he starts digging through one of the bags. "I know they gave us some extra formula, do you want to try?"

"Yeah," Harry says as he keeps shifting from one foot to another and cooing softly.

Niall looks back at Louis with pleading eyes. Louis huffs and drops down from the chair, making his way over to the foyer.

_They'll listen to you, won't they?_

_They'd better_. Louis meows loudly and Harry finally looks away from the bundle in his arms.

"Hiya Lou." He smiles widely. "I know you wanna meet her but not yet, okay?"

_I said no such thing._ Louis headbutts Harry's ankle. _Put that thing down and pet me._

"Here it is!" Liam half-shouts, brandishing a small bottle. "Should we take her up to the nursery?"

"Yeah, let's. Maybe she needs a snack and a nap," Harry says as the two of them start heading for the stairs, leaving the cats right where they are.

_This is unacceptable._ Louis' tail swishes back and forth with anger.

_It's a baby,_ Zayn sighs and resumes his previous position. _Humans love babies._

_Our humans are supposed to love_ us _, not dumb babies._

_Will the baby love us?_ Niall meows softly and Louis nuzzles his head against Niall's.

_Everybody loves us. It's the rules._

*

The first week is hell for the whole household. The baby cries at all hours of the day and night, interrupting the cats' sleep more often than not. They try and spend even more time outside than they normally do, which works fairly well until they want to come inside for food and neither Harry nor Liam is anywhere to be found. Several times Louis has sat at the back door and yowled for a good fifteen minutes before one of them _finally_ comes to let them in.

It's not a good system, and the cats are absolutely not happy.

Liam and Harry aren't exactly adjusting well to the struggles of parenthood either, and the cats aren't making it any easier. It helps when Anne and Gemma come around to lend a hand, but even then they mostly concentrate on the baby and not on any of the cats.

Louis is furious about this, of course. Niall's just a bit sad about the lack of attention, and Zayn mostly stays away anyway.

That's not to say that they aren't getting _some_ attention. They're still fed on the same schedule as always, and both Harry and Liam try to spend some time with each of the cats every day. It's just not the same, and Louis has never done well with change.

"I think it's time," Harry says one afternoon.

"Time for what?" Liam replies, his mouth half-full from a sandwich. They're both in the kitchen while the baby naps upstairs in the nursery. Liam's next to the refrigerator, keeping an eye on the baby monitor while Harry sits on the floor petting Louis. Niall's roaming around while Zayn naps in Harry's lap. It's the closest thing to normal they've had in days.

"Time for the kitties to meet Lucy."

Louis' fur prickles at the sound of the name. Niall plops down on Liam's feet, sort of hiding between his ankles. There's a shift in the air, a tension that wasn't there before, but neither of the humans seem to pick up on it.

"You sure?" Liam asks, glancing down at Niall. "I know we said we'd do it sooner rather than later, but--"

"It has to be done, Liam." Harry picks Louis up and cradles him against his chest. Louis both loves and hates it. "They have to get used to her and she them."

_I don't have to get_ used _to anybody_.

"One at a time, yeah?" Liam says. "We've got to be able to keep an eye on Louis."

Harry rolls his eyes and kisses the top of Louis' head. "You'll be my best boy, won't you?"

_As if I'm ever anything but._

"Come give Zayn a lap and pass me the treats," Harry says. Louis' ears perk up at the sound of treats and he suddenly is far more on board with this whole baby thing.

_I didn't know_ treats _were part of this deal._

Liam comes and sits down on the kitchen floor, gently taking Zayn out of Harry's lap before handing Harry the little container of treats. Louis immediately starts sniffing and pawing at them, but Harry doesn't give him any.

_But I want one!_

"Not yet, Louis," Harry says as he kisses the top of Louis' head.

_But I always deserve treats. Give me a treat._

Louis tries to paw at Harry's face, but he's not even paying attention to Louis. He's distracted by Niall climbing onto Liam's lap (and by extension, onto Zayn) and curling up for a nap.

"Looks like you'll be busy for a while," Harry says with more than a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Good thing I've just eaten," Liam says as Harry struggles a little to get to his feet while still holding Louis and the container of treats.

"Love you," Harry says as he presses a kiss to the top of Liam's head. Louis manages to get a good tail swish right in Liam's face.

"Love you too," Liam says as he rubs his eyes. "Cheers, Lou."

_You should be happy. Everybody loves my tail._

"He loves you too," Harry says happily as he leaves the kitchen and heads towards the stairs.

_Why don't we stay down here?_ Louis meows softly. _Just the two of us. Like we used to._

"I know it's scary, Lou, but you'll love her. I promise."

_Maybe I'll be more inclined if you give me a treat now._

"We're just gonna sit in here for a little while, til she wakes up," Harry says, his voice going softer as they reach the nursery door.

It's a bit jarring for Louis to see the room when Harry first steps inside. Neither he nor the other cats have been inside it since it switched over to the nursery, and it's vastly different from the empty spare room it once was.

Harry carefully sets Louis down on the carpet, still hanging onto the container of treats and _not_ sharing, and goes over to the bassinet that's sitting near the window. Louis starts nosing around and being the curious little thing he always has been, making sure to get his fur and smell all over everything so it won't be as weird for the other cats when they have their turn.

Louis pokes and prods at everything he can get into from his level, and when he's satisfied for the time being he turns around and sees that Harry's sitting down on the floor again and watching him.

"Hi, Lou," he says warmly as Louis comes over and climbs onto his lap. "Everything good?"

_It's alright. Better with a treat._

"You're being so good," Harry says. Louis licks his chops when Harry _finally_ opens the treat container and gives him one. "I told Liam you would be."

_Liam is always wrong. Except when he gives me treats._

Louis startles when Lucy starts fussing in her bassinet, and he's rightfully grumpy when Harry has to push him off of his lap so he can comfort her. It does leave the treat container unguarded, however, and Louis busies himself with trying to open it with his paws. He's wildly unsuccessful.

"Shh, hi Lucy. It's okay, I'm here. I've got you," Harry murmurs softly to the baby as he picks her up out of the bassinet. She continues fussing but doesn't start to cry, which Harry counts as a win.

_Harry, open this. I want another treat_.

"I've got a visitor for you," Harry says as he turns around and looks down at Louis. "You ready to meet her, Lou?"

_Will I get a treat? I want one._

Harry slowly eases himself back down onto the carpet, keeping a hold of Lucy in his arms as Louis backs up to give them both space. Now that the baby's closer to him, he doesn't feel quite as self-assured as he did before.

"It's okay," Harry says, reaching his hand out towards Louis to beckon him closer. "Whenever you're ready, Lou."

Louis hesitantly steps closer, going a little roundabout instead of straight towards Harry. He keeps his eyes fixed on Lucy as he takes a few cautious steps. It's hard to tell if she even knows he's there so Louis certainly isn't going to be taking chances.

He pauses and sits on his hind legs, raising himself up a little so he can see her face better. Her eyes are closed and Louis twitches his whiskers.

_You smell weird, tiny human._

"Good boy, Lou." Harry hands him a treat and Louis immediately gobbles it up.

Lucy starts fussing a little and Louis shrinks back. Harry murmurs soothing words to her and props her up a little more presumably so that Louis can get a better look at her. He tilts his head as he looks at her tiny face, all pink and squishy-looking.

_Humans are so weird. You look like a blob, tiny human._

"Lucy," Harry says in a soft, soothing tone. "This is Louis."

Lucy actually opens her eyes and appears to look at Louis, who stares back. They continue the staring contest for a little while, until Louis' curiosity gets the best of him and he comes further forward. Lucy whines a little but she keeps looking at Louis and Harry just watches.

"It's okay, Lucy. Louis loves you."

Louis leans forward on his front paws and carefully touches his nose to Lucy's cheek, jerking back a little when Lucy moves. He tries it again a few seconds later and this time, Lucy touches her tiny fist to the fur on Louis' chest.

"Soft, isn't he?" Harry says. "You're doing so good, Lou."

He holds out another treat for Louis, but it goes uneaten. Louis is too enthralled by the tiny human in front of him. After a moment, he pulls back and starts nosing at Lucy's hand, eventually giving it a small lick.

_You're alright, tiny human._ Louis goes over to the forgotten treat and eats it, glancing hopefully up at Harry as he licks his chops. _You can stay._


End file.
